It didn't take long for Miles Sanders to establish himself as a fan favorite in Philly.
The shifty and explosive running back was exactly what the team was craving after fans had to endure a sluggish 2018 season in which the Eagles finished 28th in rushing yards and 30th in yards per attempt in the NFL. Josh Adams led the team with 511 yards on the ground, followed by Wendell Smallwood with 364 and Corey Clement with 259.
Bleh.
What a breath of fresh air Miles Sanders was, then, when he burst out of the gates in training camp, drawing heaps of praise from coaches and analysts alike.
No player has changed my mind more than Miles Sanders has during training camp. Thought he was good before camp. After seeing him for a week, he looks on a completely different level than all of the other running backs. #Eagles
— Eliot Shorr-Parks (@EliotShorrParks) August 5, 2019Understandably, everyone is very excited to see what the future holds for the 2019 Offensive Rookie of the Year candidate -- he was one of four players to receive a vote -- and he may have raised those expectations with a recent interview with ESPN (via Tim McManus).
"When I look at (Christian McCaffrey), I look at a back that's very hard to stop... I want to be that back," Sanders said, speaking on his impact in both the rushing game and the receiving game. "I want to be that back where there's no way you can really slow me down or stop me or take me out of the game because I'm so versatile."
If Sanders' 2019 performance was any indication, he's not far off from becoming that back. His versatility was on display right off the bat, becoming the first NFL running back to record 500+ yards from scrimmage and 250+ return yards in his first eight career games since Adrian Peterson did it in 2007 (h/t Eagles Communications).
He showed off his devastating athleticism on the ground on numerous occasions, including in Week 8 against the Bills.
MILES SANDERS WAS GONE! --♂️--(via @NFL) pic.twitter.com/vK1uIHd2hq
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) October 27, 2019However, what made him so special was his knack as a receiver, which has become such an important trait in today's NFL.
Wentz buys time and delivers an absolute DIME to Miles Sanders!#PHIvsWAS | #FlyEaglesFly pic.twitter.com/6ENiCvEhBW
— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) December 15, 2019Of course, he wasn't quite at the level of McCaffrey, who became the third running back to ever record a 1,000 rushing-1,000 receiving yard season in 2019.
Given a full workload, a healthy offense and another year of experience under his belt, though, there's no reason to think that he can't become that guy as soon as year two or three in the league.
